27th Amendment

A
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ratifying a proposed amendment to the
Constitution of the United States prohibiting a law which varies
the compensation of members of the U.S. Congress from taking
effect until an election of representatives shall have intervened.

WHEREAS,
in 1789, the First Congress referred to the states, without
restriction upon the time to be available for its consideration,
the following proposed amendment to the Constitution of the
United States:

PROPOSED
AMENDMENT

“No
law, varying the compensation for the services of the senators
and representatives, shall take effect, until an election of
representatives shall have intervened”; and

WHEREAS,
This amendment was one of twelve proposals submitted to the
states pursuant to an understanding among the Framers that our
federal Constitution should provide, not only for the distribution
of the powers of government, but also for the protection of
the rights of the people against the misuse of those powers;
and

WHEREAS,
Although this proposed amendment was not among the ten initially
ratified as the “Bill of Rights”, it remains properly subject
to ratification by those states which have not yet approved
it; and

WHEREAS,
A corresponding provision (Art. IV, Sec. IV, par. 8) governing
increases and decreases in the compensation of members of the
Senate and General Assembly of this State was adopted as part
of New Jersey’s Constitution of 1947; now, therefore,

BE
IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the
General Assembly concurring):

1.
The Legislature of the State of New Jersey, on behalf of the
State of New Jersey, does hereby ratify the proposed amendment
to the Constitution of the United States, which was passed by
the First Congress in 1789 and which is reproduced in the preamble
to this concurrent resolution.

2.
The Secretary of State of the State of New Jersey is directed
to notify the Archivist of the United States of the action taken
by the Legislature of the State of New Jersey with respect to
this proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States. [pg. 1]

STATEMENT

This
concurrent resolution ratifies a proposed amendment to the United
States Constitution to prohibit any law changing Congressional
pay from taking effect until an election of Congressmen has
intervened.

This
proposed amendment was originally put forth in 1789 as the second
amendment in the “Bill of Rights.” Ten of the first 12 proposed
amendments to the Constitution were ratified by the states.
This one was not, but proponents argue that since no time limit
was placed upon its passage, it may still be voted upon.

Thirty-eight
states are presently required to ratify a proposed amendment
in order for it to become part of the United States Constitution.
As of August 1, 1991, this amendment had been ratified by 35
states, namely, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana,
Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire,
New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Ratifies
proposed amendment to U.S. Constitution prohibiting law which
varies compensation of members of U.S. Congress from taking
effect until election of representatives shall have intervened.[pg. 2]

SENATE
No. S.C.R. 38

SENATE,

May
7, 1992.

This
bill having been three times read in the Senate,

RESOLVED,
That the same do pass.

By
order of the Senate.

Donald
DiFrancisco, President of the Senate

GENERAL
ASSEMBLY,

May
7, 1992.

This
bill having been three times read and compared in the General
Assembly,